President Nikos Christodoulides has no plan to suspend the auditor-general in any capacity, nor is he going to tell the independent official what to do, the government said on Monday.
Speaking to CyBC, deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou described the issue of the auditor-general as “purely legal and not political”.
The comment came after deputy attorney-general Savvas Angelides on Sunday called for an independent investigation into auditor general Odysseas Michaelides.
In an interview with newspaper Kathimerini, he said: “any sane thinking person would demand to follow the only procedure which exists to control the behaviour of the auditor-general towards independent officials and others in the public sphere.”
He said the “only option available to assess this behaviour” is to involve the judicial council in a process which, would “adjudicate an application to decide what constitutes misconduct for the purpose of dismissal.”
Press spokesman of the Audit Office Marios Petrides, also speaking to CyBC on Monday, said the attorney-general and his deputy were making plans to get rid of Michaelides “for revenge”.
“This is a threat that was expressed by the attorney-general himself months ago, specifically on September 7,” Petrides said, adding that the retaliation was coming in the wake the Audit Office highlighting alleged actions by the deputy AG to acquit a client of his former law firm from criminal prosecution.
“Promoting retaliation against persons who make complaints to the Anti Corruption Authority constitutes a criminal offence,” Petrides added. He said it had already been established that the auditor-general had presented the complaint to the authority in good faith.
The Audit Office had responded to Angelides on Sunday saying the interview in Kathimerini “confirms what we have been saying, that, for a long time, the attorney-general and his deputy, with the help of a private lawyer, have been working on a plan to defenestrate the auditor-general.”
They described the move as a “retaliation” for when “the auditor-general dared to highlight that the deputy attorney-general acquitted a former client of his and a current client of his former law firm, at which his wife still works, in a criminal case.”
They added, “at the same time, we should make a reminder that other complaints submitted by the audit service against the assistant attorney-general are pending,” the Audit Office added. Such other high-profile cases could also be affected by tarnishing the auditor-general and getting rid of him, it said.
“The duo at the legal service wants to behead Odysseas Michaelides. The reasons for the application [FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIM] are therefore obvious. Unfortunately for them, the audit service is not a branch of the legal service and the auditor-general is not their subordinate,” the statement on Sunday said.
“The supreme court will have its say. The attorney-general’s threats in September 2023, and today’s full-page attack and threats by his deputy, will finally be able to be answered before independent and unbridled judges. So, put your money where your mouth is.”
They went on to say that in the coming days, they will notify the international organisation of audit institutions (Intosai) regarding “the obstruction to our work, which, among other things, will also cover the role of the attorney-general.
“We will also inform the European Commission, which is preparing its report on the rule of law.”
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